An Engagement Party to Remember

A party makes our engagement official!

Our engagement party was a huge success! Anthony and I started our Saturday in Flatiron for my Drybar appointment. Since blow outs seem like a pretty New York thing to do, and our engagement party would be one of the more important events we'd celebrate in New York, I figured an appointment at the lavish salon was worth it. When we entered the bright white-and-yellow room, we were given cookies and champagne. Not a bad way to start my weekend! Anthony did some reading on one of the plush chairs in the lounge area, while I was taken to the back to get my hair rinsed. Even Drybar's sinks are fancy! Their sinks tilt so that you don't have to strain your neck. After, I was seated facing a huge TV that was screening "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days." It's a pretty awful movie, but I guess there's not really enough time for Ang Lee. My very sweet stylist gave me a "Mai Tai," which consists of loose, beachy waves. My hair turned out bigger than I expected, but I guess it's better to start out that way so it can flatten throughout the day. The whole appointment took about an hour - longer than I expected, so Anthony and I had to rush to Dominique Ansel to pick up our cannelés. Each cannelé was individually-wrapped and sealed with a bright orange sticker. Next, we did our last errand: picking up some balloons. We power-walked through Soho up to Greenwich Village and bought two teal and two cream balloons at Village Party Store. And then that was it - time to party!

Engagement party errands: Blow out from Drybar, cannelés from Dominique Ansel, and balloons from Village Party Store

When we finally arrived at Milk + Honey, the owner had been anxiously waiting for us. I gasped when I saw the place - it was perfect. Originally, I had assumed we would have a few tables in the back, while the front half of the space would be open to the public. Instead, the owner had cleared out the entire coffee shop and even purchased flowers, table cloth, and balloons for us. Milk + Honey is naturally stunning, so we didn't need much decoration. Since it was a mild, breezy day, we were able to open the entire wall of doors instead of using air condition. I tied our four balloons outside by the door. About twenty minutes later,  I heard our two teal balloons pop, so it's a good thing we still had the owner's balloons, which were safely tied to our vase of white roses.

This place is already gorgeous, but I think my balloons helped a little!

Perfect backdrop to our party

Two tall tables with white table cloths were placed in the back corner. They held gifts, our photo caption game, flowers, and cannelés. We moved some smaller tables to the center, creating four clusters. I'm really glad Milk + Honey recently got new chairs. They used to have bar stools that were way too tall for the tables, but now the bar stools have been placed where they should be - at the bar - and the new chairs fit perfectly.

Setting up the games

All of our guests arrived late, but I guess we should have expected that since our invitation said "5:00-8:00 pm" instead of just "5:00 pm." I'll have to remember for any future parties. As each guest arrived, we told them about our photo caption game. We had printed out four goofy photos of us and put them in black and white frames. Guests could come up with their own captions and write them on a piece of paper below each frame.Guests were also greeted with a quiz. They had to match Anthony and me to twenty different items, such as favorite food, dad's name, past pet, and college major.

"Champagne brings out our wild side."

Two types of drinks were presented in punch bowls: watermelon juice and ginger mint iced tea. We were also able to order coffee beverages from the barista. Once my friends learned that Milk + Honey serves Counter Culture, half our guests ordered a cappuccino or americano. I love how many coffee snobs I know.

Once our final guest arrived, we handed out our last game: a 4x4 grid containing a unique fact about each guest. Unfortunately, one of our friends canceled at the last minute, so his unique fact was still on the grid. It turned out alright because another last minute friend took his place. Unsurprisingly, my incredibly sociable friend was the first to complete the grid, so she had first dibs on the prizes. The previous week, I had purchased $10 gift cards at three of my favorite places in the city: The Strand, Fishs Eddy, and Eataly.

Our guests completing our quiz

By then, the food was ready. Staff sliced and placed our flatbreads and sandwiches on adorable pizza boards. I had printed out a menu of the food, so I placed that in an extra photo frame and put it at the beginning of our buffet. We had ordered two grilled flank steak panini, two grilled veggie sandwiches, two zesty chicken sandwiches, two baked salmon flatbreads, two asparagus and artichoke flatbreads, two roast vegetable and pesto flatbreads, arugula salad, and kale salad. Our guests told us that they loved the food.

Our menu

Flatbreads and sandwiches

As dinner winded down, we continued with our games. We went over the correct answers for the matching quiz. My friend got an impressive 19 out of 20 correct, so she chose the Eataly gift card. Anthony and I voted for our favorite caption to our goofy photos. One of Anthony's friend won that one.

Mingling

Our party ended a little late, which was to be expected since it began late, but everyone seemed to have a great time. Each guest was given a cannelé before they left. Despite coinciding with the second-to-last World Cup game, I'm glad our friends could join us to celebrate our engagement. It was a lovely, low-key night with good food and some of our favorite New Yorkers.

Two of my favorite people in the world

Message from the owner